Sony creates a lighter, cheaper, and more efficient PS4

Sony’s always been known to create multiple versions of its consoles. And now, two years into the PS4’s lifetime, a new model is being released. While currently only available in Japan, the new console, titled the PS4 CUH-1200 revision, has been ripped apart by the Pocket News blog. Thankfully, Eurogamer has translated and given a run-down as to the changes and improvements to the new PS4 model.

While the externals look about the same, many older parts have been changed for newer, cheaper, and more energy-efficient parts. The motherboard is somewhat smaller than the original, and gets some of that room by changing the number of GDDR 5 pieces. While the original motherboard used 16 512 mb to achieve a total of 8 gb of RAM. The CUH-1200 iteration uses Samsung’s double-density models, which allow the use of only 8 RAM pieces. This also makes the console more energy efficient.

A new power supply has been introduced, making the console about 80 grams lighter and has a lower output. As well, a simpler Blu-Ray drive design, changes to the cooling assembly, and the moving around of some parts have made the console somewhere between 30%-50% more energy efficient on standby mode. The Ps4 CUH-1200 also lowers the gameplay draw from 148.6W to 122W, placing it at par with the Xbox One.

The biggest noticeable difference to the average consumer is the reduction in fan noise. While the same fan unit is being used, a reduction in energy consumption means a cooler console. The original PS4 console’s fan noise would peak at 60dB, while the new CUH-1200’s design only reaches a max of 56dB. Even though the change doesn’t sound very big, Pocket News stated that there was a noticeable difference in the fan noise.

While there’s no news of the new console being released past Japan, it does put hope that a PS4 slim model will eventually be in place. The new 1tb console being released in the UK will still be based on the original architecture, and there’s been no mention of the new console being released outside of Japan. Hopefully Sony will release more information about how globally available this new console will be, although with the console being cheaper to produce, it’s very likely that it will eventually ship out to North America and Europe.